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Innovative Ways to Prevent Conflict in Student Groups

Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.
– Ronald Reagan

Do your semester group projects frequently result with unmanageable student conflict? Have you already tried consequence-oriented strategies (e.g., group grade, peer evaluations to reduce grades, threats to fire a group member or professor intervention) without success? Consider these preventative strategies:

  • Start the first day of class with an icebreaker prompt allowing students to "vent" past negative group work experiences. For example, before students are grouped, ask "what has been your experience with group work and what should group members do to make it a positive experience?" The ensuing discussion creates a common bond, actually decreasing their anxiety and increasing motivation.
  • Give students a conflict styles inventory to learn more about their communication tendency.
  • Ask groups to create an action plan or contract for when conflicts occur.
  • Use class time to introduce conflict case studies; ask students to brainstorm multiple ways to respond.

All of our students will one day be on a job interview and asked, "tell me about a past conflict and you handled it." Instead of being frustrated with their student group conflicts today, help them create a rock-star response that lands them a job.

Resources

To follow up on any of these ideas, please contact me at fglazer@nyit.edu. This Weekly Teaching Note was adapted from a contribution to the Teaching and Learning Writing Consortium hosted at Western Kentucky University and organized by Seneca College and New York Institute of Technology.

Contributor:

Whitney Scott, PhD
Director of Faculty Development
California State University, Northridge
http://www.csun.edu/undergraduate-studies/faculty-development/collaborative-teaching-strategies